Month: January 2006

How new is the ‘New age’? The current movement of rising spirituality has root in the ancient days. The site ‘Man and the unknown’ has a two-part article ‘The roots of the new age’. The article covers topics ranging from Christianity, Gnostism, Kabbala, through freemasonry and to the modern Theosophy movement and the new age movement.The article is an interesting read for those of us who want to have a little more knowledge in the history of the occult traditions. Links: Site Man and the unknownArticle The roots of the new...

Two days ago I have happened to stumble on a great site. This site teaches some principles of the Aikido. I was only knowing that Aikido is some form of martial arts and I only saw it in movies with Steven Segal. I didn’t know anything about its principles or about its mind-body connection. Here’s how the site defines Aikido: So what exactly is this thing called Aikido? Okay, it is a martial art. The most effective martial art in the world, I believe. Because it does not rely on speed, or strength, or youth, or athleticism, or size, or weight for its success. It relies on your own internal mind/body state. And it relies on the fact that, when someone attacks another human being, that attacker has broken some unwritten universal law, and has thereby made himself vulnerable. Being personally interested in the Ki (energy) part of Aikido I found a lot of interesting information on the site. It includes the basics, such as feeling the one-point (which is located exactly where the dan-tien is), correct postures and the power of relaxation. Relaxation seems to be the most important aspect of Aikido, as I understood it. The site has several interesting contents features such as: Ki exercises – 12 exercises to feel and increase the Ki energy and using the body in the right way. All exercises come...

The BBC website posted an article about a program they run on complementary medicine. In this article, titled "Acupuncture ‘deactivates brain’", they tell about research on the chinese acupuncture method and its effect on the brain. A group of scientists used 2 groups of volunteers. One group was treated with deep (1cm) acupuncture to reduce pain, the other group underwent a superficial needling only 1mm deep. The team, including leading scientists from University College London, Southampton University and the University of York, found the superficial needling resulted in activation of the motor areas of the cortex, a normal reaction to pain. But with deep needling, the limbic system, part of the pain matrix, is deactivated. I have recently written in the article 3 simple ways to get rid of pain about acupressure method to reduce pain, which uses acupuncture point on the back of the hand, just as the article stated. The professors in the articles seemed surprised on the results but it is known that in China people can undergo surgeries using only acupuncture instead of anesthetic. It seems that the current medics have yet a lot to learn from the ancient chinese wisdom and it is a good sign that more research is performed in this direction. Have you had experience with acupuncture? Link: BBC...

Do you find it hard to smile when you’re feeling bad? Do you slouch when you’re tired or feeling ill? I believe you do. The reason for this is simple: The body mirrors your mind, your current state of being, your mental state. Most people will answer positively to the above questions. This is a known connection. It is natural. We all behave this way. Now I’m going to ask you a different question: Do you smile to make yourself to feel better? People generally don’t realize that the body-mind connection is going both ways. It is not only the body that gets affected by the state of mind but also the body can make a profound effect on your mind. Ok, so you might have noticed that doing some sports activity, like going to a gym or even simple walk in the streets or morning exercises (like these, for example) can really pour positive energy into you. But do you only do it when you feel yourself well? Study shows that when you force your body to behave healthy, you will cause your mind to heal itself and your body. A russian researcher of uzbek origin Mirzakarim Norbekov has developed a whole self-healing system around the concept. He has written books on this subject and founded an institution ion Moscow to teach the people. Using his system people...

Everyone of us experiences pain every now and then. By this I mean regular, physical pain. I want to describe 3 of the numerous possible ways to cope with pain, even to make it go for good. 1. The 6 step approach If you have some local pain that’s bothering you, find a quiet place where you could sit, close your eyes and relax for several minutes. Then do the following steps: Locate the pain in your body. Identify the shape of the pain. Identify the color of the pain. Identify the taste of the pain. Identify the smell of the pain. Find a container suitable for the pain and imagine how you put the pain in it. The container can be anything: a bowl, a box or anything else that comes to your mind. How to identify the shape, color, taste and smell? Just concentrate on the pain for a second and ask yourself the question: "What shape (color, etc) my pain is right now?". The first thing that comes to mind is what it should be. Now, the way to use this 6 step approach is to repeat the steps until you can’t locate the pain (which, by the way, means that the pain is gone). This may take a few iteration. You should also pay attention to the changes in your answers. If for 2 consecutive...